Hello, I’m James and this is my blog, ‘James Proclaims’.
The above picture is of Henry Cavill, who is possibly best known for playing a version of Superman, but not the definitive version of Superman, because that will always be the late, great, Christopher Reeve.
As well as playing an ‘OK but not great’ version of Superman, Henry Cavill is known for being the title character in the pretty good Netflix series ‘The Witcher’ and some other stuff, some of which is good and some of which is not so good.
I chose his picture because I found it on one of those websites that lets you use their images for free, and out of those available he seemed to be the one that was recognisable enough as a celebrity without being so famous that it wouldn’t be plausible that he could have mental health problems that haven’t been the subject of much media scrutiny.
He does not, to the best of my knowledge, have mental health problems, but frankly whether he does or doesn’t is not really any of my business.
This post is not, as advertised, about ten celebrities who have mental health problems. It’s another of my, now much-celebrated, Wednesday ‘click-bait’ posts, in which I write a ‘click-bait’ title and then write a post which laments ‘click-bait’ titles.
This one is a kind of dig at the celebrity-obsessed culture we find ourselves living in these days.
I don’t know why anyone would want to know about celebrities who have mental health problems.
I don’t tend to want to know too much about celebrities at all. If someone is famous because of their work, then I might well be interested in their work, but I’m never really interested in who they are. I think knowing too much about someone famous, even someone who I hold in high esteem, will likely only ever result in disappointment.
I certainly don’t want to know about the mental health of anyone famous. Unless it’s a famous person who is using their ‘platform’ to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health issues.
But generally I find that celebrities use their ‘platforms’ to self-promote even when they are supposedly doing it for altruistic reasons.
I don’t really blame them, I imagine shameless self-promotion is the name of the game when it comes to obtaining and subsequently retaining celebrity status.
I would personally rather not add fuel to that particular fire though.
I’ll admit there is a certain amount of hypocrisy to this sentiment, because clearly, even though my blog is read by a very small (but highly intelligent and discerning) number of people, I would, on some level, like to be more well-known for my writing. But this is less because I crave fame and more because writing tends to work best as a career option if lots of people want to read it. I’m not saying I especially deserve to be well-known for my writing but, on balance, I think I would rather be paid to write than paid to do whatever it is that my current employer pays me to do.
Celebrities often do more harm than good by getting on a soap box and talking about something they really don’t know or understand but their agent told them what to say.
I’m afraid I disagree with you on the best Superman. That was George Reeves.
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I can get on board with George Reeves. Not an incarnation I’m overly familiar with but he did come first. For many years I assumed he was Christopher Reeve’s father until I realised they actually have different albeit similar surnames.
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who?
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But you have to feel for the celebrities who have been on every chat show and suddenly discover they have been autistic for the last forty years or who can totally understand clinical depression as they were upset when their cat died.
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Genuine inspirations the lot of them
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I’ve really given as good an explanation as I’m able to. To be fair he seems to be the opposite of the kind of celebrity I’m talking about because he is really only known for his work so if you’re not familiar with that then you probably won’t know him. Which makes him ok in my book.
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I’ve never really understood how people can become so fascinated by celebrities. For creators that I enjoy, then I am certainly interested in what, professionally, they are going to do next — but their private life is of no interest to me at all.
And then there are the celebrities who are famous for being famous. I find both these people, and the people that follow them, completely incomprehensible.
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The ‘famous for being famous’ thing is beyond comprehension
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Bother! I like to think that I have managed to completely ignore the celebrity thing, but unfortunately the name “Christopher Reeve” seems vaguely familiar, so I can only conclude that I know more about celebrities than I previously thought.
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Christopher Reeve was one of the good ones. He was, as far as I can tell, actually Superman.
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That’s a relief! I don’t mind knowing about a real superhero 🙂
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I think the only mental health we should worry about after this post is yours..
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That’s probably fair
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Hold up… Superman isn’t real?! And is, as you say, a part played by this thing you call ‘celebrities’
My world has just capsized. Now, I have to reprocess everything I thought to be real and true…
Wait a tick… what about Santa?
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No, Superman is real but he can’t be everywhere at once so he has ‘helpers’ who stand in for him for his TV and movie commitments. I think it’s a similar deal with Santa although no one has ever seen Santa and Superman in the same room as each other…
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Oooh 😯 so you’re saying they might be one and the same?
Oh my gosh! This is the second time today… 🤯
I may not recover from this.
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I’m not saying they are the same person but if I imply it strongly enough then it could be an actual internet ‘fact’ by this afternoon
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🤣
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I did actually meet Christopher Reeve as he was filming a post-Superman movie (‘Remains of the Day’?) near my work in Exeter at the time. I didn’t recognise him at first because he had his glasses on.
Note: I am here because I’m loyal, not for the gossip but can recommend to anyone reading this that they pop over to my blog to see what I am like before I am famous so you can moan about how different I am when/if fame and fortune hits.
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I’d say it’s when rather than if and fame will definitely change you. Arguably it already has. I remember when you used to write in the third person and may or may not have been called Bryntin. Being Scribblans has really gone to your head
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I think the word ‘celebrity’ is overused, and should be replaced by ‘moron’ in most cases. Take Celebrity Mastermind, for example – it usually fails the Trades Description Act on both counts…
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And yet I love that show because the questions are so much easier than normal Mastermind so I get most of them right and get to feel superior to people that apparently some other people have heard of
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I know what you mean, they are insultingly easy and still they don’t get many right!
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Curse you. Promise us a list and gave us…Henry Cavill…
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And arguably I didn’t even give you him. Blame the people who do the free picture website. It was either Henry Cavill, Kevin Bacon or an unconvincing waxwork model of Brad Pitt
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When I was obtaining my celebrity status my shameless self promotion came at quite a high price. I answered an ad, on a very famous person’s blog, that promised to help me gain super star status. He was in education as I remember, and boy was he true to his word. I now feature in 82 “You will not believe what happened……..reports” The latest features a story about my left sock that travelled halfway round the globe!
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Your sock-cess is an inspiration
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Thank you so much. I’ll settle your invoice as soon as I possibly can.
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When I read the phrase “shameless self-promotion”, it made me think back to the days when I used to mention my blog, thelonelymeatball.ca, in comments on your blog. Those were the days when I hoped your visitors would become my visitors and enjoy my children’s poems. I guess I’ve evolved since then. It’s wonderful to know that we never stop growing. 😊 As always, I enjoyed your post, James.
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It is lovely to see the progress you have made
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I really appreciate your noticing. It speaks to your basic sensitivity, which always so evident in the artwork you do with Little.
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I LOVE THIS POST As one of your highly intelligent and discerning readers I truly do not understand celebrity. Who was the best superman? Who cares? The stories are what are cool but most of the writers fade off into oblivion. As well as all the techs grips and costumers who made the actor look good. Yet we praise the actor. Because of several very odd circumstances I am able to love my life and I don’t need to live vicariously through some spoiled overpaid child who thinks his life is hard because he has to go to parties where drugs are present.
Sorry I’ll get off my soap box. But I wish any who reads this to love the life you have and give a great big salute to James for his wonderful writing
Stay well and Laugh whenever you can
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You’re always welcome to bring your soapbox to my comments section.
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I am not discerning. I am not highly intelligent. I read your blog. What is going on with my life?
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My apologies sir, someone should really have checked your credentials before now. I think it’s best for everyone if you leave quietly and don’t make a scene.
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I wanna no what number 4 said. 😳😂
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You won’t believe it!
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😛
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Celebrities are over rated, especially when people go to them to help decide who to vote for. Good post.
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Some celebrities might have slightly more merit than others but I agree that none of them have opinions that I care to listen to, particularly around politics.
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